Melon Does Maiko Month
by The Melon Lord Approves
Summary: A collection of drabbles for Maiko month. Today: Day 6- Decadence. They assume she's dating him for the perks, all these silly little girls…
1. Home Improvement

**Title-** Melon Does Maiko Month  
**Author-** who do you think?  
**Characters/Pairings-** Maiko  
**Rating-** Varying from K+ to a tentative M  
**Summary-** A collection of drabbles for Maiko month.

**A/N-** It's end of semester crunch time and work has been crazy, so I haven't had time to wrap up the latest chapter of K&tA or Fireflight, but I always have time for shipping months! Now, because I'm a busy Melon right now, I'm only doing short drabbles of 100-500 words or so for each prompt, rather than longer stories. But I hope they'll suit anyway.

* * *

**Day 1 / Modern**  
**Home Improvement**

"I don't like it."

"Of course you don't. You hate anything you don't understand."

"I'm sorry, but it's just not natural!"

"Your little friend in the chair spent all those weeks installing the things all over the palace; the least you could do is use it once in awhile."

They had had this discussion at least ten times since Teo's "shower" had been installed in the royal couple's bathing room almost a month ago. Zuko, whose favorite method of de-stressing from the pressures of his position was a long soak in a hot bath (a habit he had no doubt picked up from his uncle), didn't see the need for any alternative style of bathing. Mai found his stubborn refusal to try the new invention entirely frustrating.

"What's wrong with the bath tub?" Zuko protested stubbornly.

Mai rolled her eyes. She had officially had enough of this argument and she knew one surefire way to shut him up. "Come on, Zuko," she said in a put-upon voice, grabbing him by the neck of his bathrobe and hauling him bodily into the shower stall.

"Mai, I don't-"

But he fell silent as she undid the clasp of her nightdress and allowed it to fall about her feet. She stepped into the shower with him and kissed him fiercely. While he was still blinking in mild stupefaction, she stripped him of his own robe and pulled the chain to turn the water on them both before pulling him back into another steamy kiss.

"Well," Zuko said much later as he pressed open-mouthed kisses to her wet skin, "I guess maybe there is something to be said for modern technology after all."


	2. Brutality

**A/N-** Woke up long enough to crap this out, now I'm going back to sleep. God I hate (love) third shift...

* * *

**Day 2 / Injustice**  
**Brutality**

Mai was there that day, the day of the agni kai. She wished every day afterwards that she hadn't been.

Azula wanted her there. Mai knew all too well why; she knew Azula too well not to understand. But what she didn't understand was why the Fire Lord would attack his son this way. She didn't know the circumstances, she didn't know what had happened, but she knew Zuko didn't deserve this (_not him_) and she knew it was wrong.

Even as a child, Mai had never been patriotic. She honestly hadn't much cared one way or another about the Fire Nation. That day was the day she swore she would never pledge her loyalty to her nation, because no country ruled by a man who could do that to his own child could be worth it.

But years pass and convictions fade easily from a heart governed by a nihilistic mind if not reinforced by the passions that formed them. And so Mai came when Azula called, and Mai did what Azula said, and it was no skin off her back if the Fire Nation won or lost the war. She helped chase the Avatar (more or less) and she helped conquer Ba Sing Se (somewhat) and it was what it was. Zuko came back (came back to her!) and she wasn't much bothered about the details.

Only then came the Boiling Rock and several hours' worth of heart-wrenching confrontation with the boy who had broken her heart. And the words that came pouring hot out of his mouth and burning her reawakened something in her. The things he said about what the Fire Nation had become in the eyes of the other nations... the portrait he painted of the injustices carried out all around the world... suddenly Mai saw again the agni kai she had witnessed so many years ago, writ large across the face of the whole world. Once again she remembered her secret vow never to serve the whim of the Fire Lord.

When Zuko and his new friends needed help... well, what else could she do? She had passed her time in disinterest long enough.


	3. Slow Burn

**A/N-** Late. Sorry. Fail. More to come. I find it amusing that 90% of the theme responses I read for yesterday's prompt were on the same subject- the agni kai. We're such an _original_ fandom, aren't we?

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**Day 3 / Lust**  
**Slow Burn  
**

Usually... usually it is quick and hot and they are left spent and panting against each other, sweat plastering their bodies. Sticky against each other, tangled together exhausted and sparked out like a star that burned too bright.

But tonight it is different. Her lips trace his face, his neck, his chest, lower. Skin dragging across skin, damp, catching at his body and creating a soft friction. His hands grasping her hips, his mouth whispering the most beautiful things into her ear. His fingers finding just the right spot, slowly driving her crazy until she unspools in his arms with a soft sigh.

And afterward, the two of them laying together, soft and sleepy and warm and Zuko decides that while the other way is his favorite, this is very nice, too.


	4. Much Missed

**A/N-** I'm sorry this took so long and is so bad. Expect more updates soon while I try to catch up.

* * *

**Day 4 / Sympathy**  
**Much Missed  
**

Zuko missed his mother. Mai recognized it in him the moment Princess Ursa vanished. He was more withdrawn and prone to emotional outbursts.

She wanted to reach out to him. Spirits, she wanted to, but that wasn't the kind of girl she was. She wasn't the kind of girl who cooed over people and catered to their self-pity (though that wasn't what Zuko was doing, not really). She wasn't _Ty Lee_.

And besides… she couldn't really even sympathize with him about this. Most days she thought she would do anything to get rid of her own mother. How could she sit there and lend him her support when secretly she was seething with jealousy over his position? It was an ugly emotion, but Mai was not the kind of girl to lie to herself or turn away from ugly truths.

But years later, she understood: it was not her place to sympathize with Zuko over the loss of his mother. It was his place to sympathize with Mai over the loss of _hers_.


	5. Struck Dumb

**A/N-** Aaand another one...

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**Day 5 / Hush**  
**Struck Dumb  
**

As he took their firstborn into his arms for the very first time, Zuko's golden eyes were comically enormous as he stared at the tiny little girl. He held her awkwardly, his hands shaking and his expression terrified.

"Your highness?" the attending healer asked urgently. "What shall the child be named?"

Mai waited on her husband to give the woman one of the names they had discussed, but not a sound issued from his lips. He was silent, just staring down at their child.

"Fire Lord Zuko?"

But he was still silent. Mai snorted inwardly at the terrified, awestruck look on her husband's face as he gazed at their daughter, all his attention wrapped up in her. He glanced up at the healer and his mouth worked for a moment before he went right back to staring at the baby. She rolled her eyes. Zuko was never a big talker, but this was exceptional even for him.

"Ursa," she said, deciding to take matters into her own hands. "Her name is Ursa."

It wasn't what they had discussed, and Zuko clearly recognized that as he looked up at her, baffled. He opened his mouth to try to speak, but she held up a hand. "Hush," she told him. "Look at her. It fits, doesn't it?"

"Yes," he murmured. "It's perfect."


	6. False Assumptions

**A/N-** Aaand another one...

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**Day 6 / Decadence**  
**False Assumptions  
**

Zuko has fangirls. Not so many as the Avatar, for he does not have Aang's warm, open personality that invites people in and makes them feel appreciated even if they're a virtual stranger. But there are more than a few young ladies in the Caldera who have dedicated their time to fantasizing over and stalking the new Fire Lord.

Mai does not like them. She knows they're no threat to her, but that doesn't mean she can't find the things they say a bit annoying. She hears them whisper as she passes.

_I hear she makes him order her a dozen fruit tarts every single night- what a cow!_

_She's only with him for the throne._

_I'd compromise my virtue, too, if it meant living like his queen for as long as she's got.  
_

They assume she's dating him for the perks, all these silly little girls. They assume that she's only with him for the decadent lifestyle she enjoys at the palace, or for the glamour of being consort to the Fire Lord. And although it's annoying, she never takes it personally. She knows it's just a reflection of their own reasons for lusting after Zuko.

No, not Zuko. The Fire Lord. She is the only one who truly lusts for _Zuko_, because she loves him. She's seen him covered head to toe in mud (been responsible for that condition, too). She's seen him angry, she's seen him confused, she's listened when he's lost and unsure what he should do about any number of problems.

_No, little girls,_ she thinks smugly, _I'm not with him for the glitz and the decadence_ - (and besides, one look at her should tell them that was never a priority for her) - _I'm with him despite that._


End file.
